http://www.slashgear.com/umid-mbook-...video-2257507/



Great looking device. For $500. I'm finally going to be upgrading my n810. I'm sorry, but this smokes the n900.

At a glance, I don't see that competing with a smartphone. It's too big and bulky to carry on you unless you use a purse or a manbag; and it's not a phone. I couldn't find battery specs but it's obviously not packing a 9-cell so I don't think you'd get far beyond 4 hours of usage. Not a bad device, but I can't see this being anything but a novelty. If it's right up your alley though, I'm happy for you.

Look around on the forum, out of the four Nokia devices being discussed, only the N900 is a phone, and there is still an ongoing argument whether it should be termed a "smartphone".

A netbook that is approximately the size of the original NITs is definitely competition. I have been considering the M1 ever since its price started dropping a month ago, and the M2 seems even more compelling.

I quite enjoy following the convergence of the x86 and the ARM world in terms of form factor and/or size of the devices... Interesting times...

Battery specs of the M1 was 5-6 on wifi. Even longer with the wifi off. Plus this is exactly what I want. It's not a phone, it has a large screen, and a very nice keyboard. And upgraded, bigger, n810, with windows xp. I figure there are n810 users out there that don't want the 3.5 inch screen and the 3 row keyboard of the n900. Don't get me wrong, I love maemo, not a fan of the n900.
I'm a student, so I can't get this the day it comes out, but come graduation in a 6 months, I'll have a new device fitting my pocket.

Runs windows. N900 wins.

Sure you can slap some Linux distro onto it, in case Windows 7 was not your idea

Put ubuntu 9.1 on it. Umid wins.

I strongly avoid playing that game, for my "primary devices". For devices that I just tinker with, or are just laying around and I don't care if I can't take the time to "make it work" for a few weeks, maybe. But, otherwise:

Maemo, Ubuntu, or Android on vendor supported hardware: Many Plusses

Legal Mac OS X on Apple hw: Some Plusses

Linux other than Maemo, Ubuntu, or Android on vendor supported hw: Neutral

Android, Legal Mac OS X*, Legal Maemo*, or Linux on non-vendor/Apple supported hardware: Some Minuses

Non-Legal Mac OS X, non-Legal Maemo on non-vendor supported hardware: MANY Minuses

Windows (any flavor, on any hardware): TOO MANY Minues


(* such as: ripping out the motherboard of a mac mini or macbook air, and putting into another device that has the case profile you want -- it's legal, but very unsupported; I haven't actually tried it, but I've considered it for a tinkering project ... and as I write this, I suppose I should consider similar possibilities with the motherboard in my N810)

(in this case, "legal" means "not pirated, not in violation of the software vendor's license")

For all those who say the N900 is not a phone, it's a computer - wrong. The UMID is a computer. The M2 addresses most of the issues with the M1 which, although it pwns the N900, was a bit slow and needed more RAM to be a viable pocketable computer. However, with the faster CPU, the battery life may go down versus the M1 specs cited above.

I'm waiting for the M2 to show up at a real retailer. Currently I can only find the M1 for sale. The 1.6 GHz model may replace my OQO (although I'll still keep my NIT as a PDA - it replaced my Palm TX).

BTW, it is pocketable without a purse. I have a similar sized OQO 02 and it fits nicely in my front pants pocket.

And, as far as the Linux versus Windows comments, I can run Puppy Linux off a USB on my OQO and retain most of the functionality of the device (despite its high degree of customization versus the UMID). In the x86 world, compatibility is the norm rather than the exception.

As far as Windows in general, some of the programs I use only run on Windows. None of the programs I use, most of which are FOSS, only run on Linux. I'm running Win7 RTM and it is stable and relatively light weight.

(I'll assume you mean 9.10, since I don't recall them releasing a version in January 2009)

Nope, N900 still wins.

I consider three categories of mobile devices that I consider:

Pocketable -- at most 5" screen size, but, honestly, probably no bigger than 4.3"; and it must be a phone (I don't do non-phone pocketables anymore; it was too annoying for me to carry both a phone and an N810). Not a phone: doesn't win. No physical qwerty keyboard: doesn't win.

Mid-range -- 6"-12" screen size. And, to win this category, for me, it has to be 9" or 10" screen, and some form of tablet (convertible tablet netbook is good, slate tablet is good, folding tablet (MS Courier, Entourage eGEe, OLPC 2) is good; but I've had a conventional netbook, and I'm no longer interested in that segment).

Laptop -- 12" screen size, or larger. (there's a grey area right at 12" ... there are some 12" devices that are definitely netbooks, and there are some 12" devices that are definitely laptops). I don't buy laptops ... so the only way to "win" is: don't be in this category.


The UMID M2 is at the upper end of my "Pocketable" category. It has a keyboard, so that's good. But even if it had vendor supported Ubuntu (or even Maemo) on it ... it's not a phone.

The N900 not only has the physical keyboard, it's a phone. The N900 wins.